Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) is one of the original brokerage firms to offer individual investors the opportunity to buy and trade equities at a discount. However, in recent years, Schwab has transformed itself from a discount broker focused on driving commissions into an asset management company, making money by charging a percentage of clients' assets as a fee for financial services. For the full year 2010, Charles Schwab reported a total revenue of $4.51B and a net income of $454M.^[1][2]

Schwab used its transformation to establish a firm foothold into the mass affluent marketplace, a segment which represents 60% of the $25 trillion in U.S. retail investing assets. With this focus on mass affluent customers, Schwab has carved out a unique position between the discount and traditional brokers. The downside is that Schwab faces competition on multiple fronts, especially as it continues to expand into areas such as 401(k) management, mortgages, and full service financial consulting.

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